Edmund Spenser's Amoretti -79

Edmund Spenser's Amoretti Sonnet -79

Introduction:

The theme of "Sonnet 79" by the Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser is the true meaning of beauty. Spenser makes a distinction between eternal beauty, that which is given by God, and the more fleeting, earthly beauty that will one day fade away. In "Sonnet 79" the speaker gladly acknowledges the immense physical beauty of his lover. At the same time, however, he gently reminds his beloved that what makes her really beautiful is her intelligence.

Text:

Amoretti LXXIX:

by Edmund Spenser

Men call you fair, and you do credit it, 

For that yourself ye daily such do see: 

But the true fair, that is the gentle wit 

And virtuous mind, is much more praised of me: 

For all the rest, however fair it be, 

Shall turn to naught and lose that glorious hue; 

But only that is permanent and free 

From frail corruption that doth flesh ensue. 

That is true beauty; that doth argue you 

To be divine, and born of heavenly seed; 

Derived from that fair Spirit from whom all true 

And perfect beauty did at first proceed: 

He only fair, and what he fair hath made; 

All other fair, like flowers, untimely fade.

3.6